


Fell Star of Destiny

by Swanehilde



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25808773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swanehilde/pseuds/Swanehilde
Summary: “It is what it is, kid,” he answered, deadpanned. “You’re a witch.”Such a funny thing, fate is.If only she had known back then, how this revelation would turn her life upside down, 'funny' would not be the word she chose to describe her fate.---a.k.a a very self-indulgent Harry Potter AU with several tweaks and adjustments to suit the universe of FE3H better. Rating will change and tags will be added as the story goes.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	1. New Witch on the Block

**Author's Note:**

> My very first fic written for the franchise that completely stole my heart and rendered me useless for all the emotion I've been feeling throughout the game. Special thanks to my lovely best friend R for beta-reading and gave me pointers to make this fic readable~ 
> 
> In this AU, the age to enroll the school of witchcraft and wizardry is 15. Basically the 6 years enrollment is high school plus college years XD Not gonna lie tho the idea came to me one day when I was binge-reading fanfictions and suddenly thought "Ashe is a lot similar to Neville Longbottom."
> 
> So, there you go.

“Alright, thank you, Headmaster. I will make sure to discipline her further. Thank you for your time,”

Jeralt nodded apologetically for goddess-knows-how-many-times to the headmaster of Morfis Middle School before closing the door to his office. For the past three years, he had frequented the room more times than he would have like to be. His gaze was immediately met by her daughter’s–Byleth-blank ones. Without saying a single word, she grabbed her bag in the waiting room chair next to her and stood up next to him.

“What do you want for dinner today, Dad?” she asked, completely ignoring the fact that her father was just reprimanded by the school’s headmaster due to her ‘outrageous’ behavior.

“I’m in the mood for steak,” he replied while slinging his left arm on her daughter’s shoulders and led her out of the principal’s office, out of the school building to the lone car parked in the parking area. “Your graduation is nearing so he practically conducted a sermon on how proper children should act, like, let’s say, Jessica.”

Byleth cringed at the use of the word ‘proper’ and ‘Jessica’ in the same sentence. “Yeah, if proper means hiding my backpack in a smelly locker in the boy’s room then yeah, she is proper alright.”

“But is it really worth spilling milkshakes on her?”

She frowned upon her now-smelly school backpack. It was a gift from him on her twelfth birthday and she really loved the design; it was black and simple and she had attached a tiny white lion plushie, something that she got several years ago from a boy she met in Sreng when she accompanied her father for a job. _How is he doing anyway?_

“Yeah, totally,” she grinned mischievously before fastening her seatbelt. “To the supermarket we go!”

Jeralt laughed at his daughter’s enthusiasm on going to supermarket. He thanked the goddess every day for Byleth. It was not easy to raise a teenage girl as a single father. He had anticipated tantrums, boyfriends, or endless screaming on the phone with other teenage girls. Instead, Byleth preferred to eat (hence why she developed a love for cooking after discovering that home-made food can be altered to her liking in terms of flavor and portion) and pester him whenever she can to train her with many kinds of self-defense, be it martial arts or weapon-wielding arts. Maybe she will inherit his private security company when she grew up.

But he can only dream, as he knew that his daughter will play a much bigger role in the world than just being the chairwoman of Eisner Co.

_Any day now._

⬩ ♦ ⬩

To say that she ‘spilled’ milkshake on Jessica Floyd was an understatement. The pink liquid exploded graciously on her face by sheer force of _magic._

_Magic._

That was the term Byleth chose to use whenever something similar happened. There were several things that science and logic could not explain ever since she was a kid. For example, she can make flowers bloom even after she plucked the bud from the stem or made snow fall on the desert.

She had showed her _magic_ to her father three years ago. It was the day after the principal first called him in for a good session of reprimanding of her ‘inappropriate’ behavior towards her fellow classmates. Instead of scolding or yelling at her, he gave her a knowing look before holding her in his arms.

“You are special, kiddo. Don’t ever listen if any other kids ever called you a freak or a weirdo. They know nothing about you,” he had said.

 _But I know nothing about me, too_.

Despite all the questions she had, she never pestered her father too much about them. Even at a young age, she knew that her father had tried his best to raise her alone without a mother and a company to manage. The least she can do was to give him time to explain everything in due time. Making things fly or explode just by thinking hard enough about it was certainly not normal, yet not once had he called her crazy or tried to have her committed to some mental health institution like those movies she liked to watch until late night on non-school days.

She needed time. The perfect time to get all the answers for all of the questions.

At the moment, she was more determined than ever to finish her senior year in Morfis Middle School before preparing for her high school entrance exam.

⬩ ♦ ⬩

Byleth flopped into the softness of her bed and stared at the ceiling. Fortunately, three moons passed _mostly_ without a hitch since her father’s latest visit to the principal’s office. She never understood why Jessica Floyd would never leave her alone. They have other, more pressing things to worry about–for example, there would be final exams in the next moon to determine whether or not you are going to graduate or applying to high schools–but Jessica and her gang _insisted_ that Byleth stole Jessica’s boyfriend Geoffrey away from her, even though Byleth rarely talks to the guy.

Byleth knew that she was what other people considered beautiful; mint green hair that seemed to glow under the moonlight and big, round emerald eyes that drew people in were definitely her most distinguishable features, but the thought of using her looks for such petty thing like stealing someone’s boyfriend never crossed her mind.

“Jealousy makes other people do horrible things sometimes,” her father had told her once.

“Such an ugly feeling,” she murmured before drifting into sleep.

 _She was dreaming about a meadow full of white lilies with tree lines and clear blue sky decorating the background. In the midst of everything, she saw a young woman with long light green hair–_ which was almost similar to hers– _smiling at her while reaching her right hand for her to hold._

“ _It is time, my child,” she told her with a serene voice and Byleth stepped closer, trying to get a hold of her hand._

“-kid.”

_The image blurred and the woman vanished._

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and found her father sitting on her bedside with a white envelope on hand and a sad smile on his face.

“I’m sorry to wake you up, but this mail came for you and it is important.”

Still groggy from her nap, she rubbed her eyes a couple of times before taking the white envelope and opened it. Inside was a letter written in a neat cursive handwriting with several attachments on the back.

Below the emblem of a white dragon, she read,

_________

_Garreg Mach School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmistress: Rhea_

_(Order of Sothis, First Class, Grand Sorceress)_

_Dear Ms. Eisner,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Garreg Mach School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students will be required to report to the Chamber of Reception upon arrival. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 4 th of Harpstring Moon 1180. We await your owl by no later than 31st of Guardian Moon 1180. To avoid detection by Muggles, please use the entrance located at Duke Cross Station, Downtown Derdriu, Platform 9 ¾. We look forward to having you at our school._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Deputy Headmaster Seteth_

_________

_Huh. School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?_

She met her father’s gaze with a confused look. The man never strikes her as the type to write an elaborate seemingly-official letter just to mess with her.

“What is the meaning of this?” was all she could ask him after five minutes of silence.

“It is what it is, kid,” he answered, deadpanned. “You’re a witch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life is a witch your fate makes~


	2. Fragments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HC: The Wizarding World of Fódlan includes only the territory of Garreg Mach, Faerghus, and Adrestia. The Leicester Alliance is the ‘London’ of this AU, a bridge between the muggle world to the wizarding world. Also, Byleth’s birthday is September 20/20th of Horsebow Moon 1164.

“I’m a what?”

“A witch.”

Jeralt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He then sat up from Byleth’s bed and gestured his head towards the door. “Come downstairs. Let’s talk about this over tea.”

Both of them left her room in total silence with Byleth still clutching the acceptance letter in her hand. She blinked in surprise when she spotted a snow-white owl perching on the top rail of one of the dining chairs.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. It’s an owl from the castle. In fact, it was the one who delivered your letter,” Jeralt said, amused by his daughter’s confusion. “Just relax and sit down. I’ll prepare the tea.”

 _That’s right. They said they will wait for_ my _owl?_

A couple of minutes later, Jeralt brought two cups of steaming hot tea and put down one cup in front of her. She mumbled a “thank you” before setting the letter down on the island counter, grabbed the cup and started blowing some steam off.

“So… Wizards and witches are actually real. Those things you could do? It was a sign that you have magical power,” he started. “It is your _magic._ ”

_Huh. My magic._

“Are you one of them?” she asked.

“Actually, yes. I am a wizard.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Byleth watched her father shifted several times in his seat before finally meeting her gaze.

“Do you remember what I told you about your mother?”

“Yes. You said that she passed away due to an illness when I was one.”

“I’m sorry, kid. But it was not the truth. There’s a lot more story to it…”

“I’m all ears.”

At her determined expression, he took a deep breath, took out an old photograph beneath the picture of Byleth and him in front of a zoo from his wallet, and showed it to Byleth.

“The picture is moving,” she remarked at the sight of a woman with long, dark green hair kissing a sleeping baby in her arms, next to a much younger Jeralt, also smiling and occasionally kissing the baby’s forehead. “So, this is mom…”

“Yeah. That’s her,” Jeralt’s smile was sad as he looked at his deceased wife in the picture. “This was taken in Fhirdiad, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. We used to live there before I brought you here.”

He took a sip of his tea and exhaled before continuing his story, a smile forming in his lips. “I was named as the King’s head of security right after I graduated from Garreg Mach. A year later, I married your mother. We were happy and everything was perfect, even more after the day of your birth.”

“Unfortunately,” he paused for a brief moment, his smiled turned into an expression full of remorse. “Our happiness didn’t last too long. Few moons after your birth, a mysterious group of wizards and witches attacked the Kingdom. We suspected that it was a plot to assassinate the Queen, who was heavily pregnant at the moment. Due to my position, I had to stand guard at the royal castle, leaving you with your mother at our house.”

She noticed that his gaze no longer met hers. Instead, he had been staring intently into his cup while gripping it tightly, turning his fingers white. She gently placed her hand on his, prying his grip away from the cup.

“Careful, you will hurt your hands if the cup broke.”

“Right. Thanks, kid,” he smiled at her. “By the time I got back, there were corpses lying around… and one of them was your mother.”

“She was… murdered?” Byleth asked, uncertain.

A weak nod from him was all she got as an answer.

“It was the one day in my live which I regret the most,” he added, his voice wavered unconsciously.

“But the people that were trying to get to her was also dead,” she stated.

“Your mother was a brilliant witch. She would never back down without a fight,” her father said with a smile, probably remembering some fond memories of his late wife. “After that incident, I fled from Fódlan and settled down here and raised you in the way of Muggles–what we call non-magic folks–as an attempt to keep you safe.”

When her father didn’t add anything else, she held his hand and gave him an understanding nod.

“Thanks for telling me, Dad,” she said softly. “Do you think it would be wise for me to attend Garreg Mach though? You know, considering.”

“I am not happy to have you separated from me, but there is no better place for you to learn how to control your powers,” he admitted. “To be fair, it was the best experience anyone could have and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

When Byleth noticed the positive change in her father’s demeanor, she teased him as an attempt to lighten up the mood. “Why? Because you were prom-king-and-everything-was-going-on-Jeralt?”

“Prom? No, don’t be ridiculous!”

_That sounds lame. So, I’m not gonna-_

Before she could finish the thought though, “They hold a grand ball every year after the Battle of Eagle and Lion. And, you were correct about one thing. I was one of the best they had,” he patted his chest proudly before shifting into a more somber expression. “Also, Garreg Mach was the place where I met the love of my life, who eventually led me to having you.”

Warmth fill her chest at the sight of her father.

_I wonder what it feels like to fall in love with someone like that?_

“So, it’s going to be awesome, then?” Byleth finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Without a doubt.”

“And you’re not coming with me?”

“Nah. Who’s gonna hold the fort if it isn’t me?” he chuckled. “This is my home now. _Our_ home.”

⬩ ♦ ⬩

Time had been passing extremely slow for Byleth. All the anticipation and giddiness she felt for the last moon had been almost impossible to contain. With each passing day, her enrollment as a witch in Garreg Mach School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was nearing. Now that she knew she was a witch, everything around her seemed so… _mundane._

The school bell finally rang, signaling that it was the end of the last day of final exam. The last day of school. The last day of becoming an ordinary student for Byleth.

 _Everything is going to change. And change is good. Change is_ always _good._

_“So, where do you suppose I could get all of these in Morfis?” she asked her father while holding up a list of required school supplies and books._

_“Don’t you worry about that for now, kid. I’m taking you to the Duke Cross Station myself. I booked our flights to Derdriu already,” he chuckled. It was a sunny Sunday morning and Byleth was more interested in going through her school supplies checklist rather than panicking about the next day’s final exam._

_“I can’t wait.”_

_“I know. You were practically bouncing up and down every time you asked me about Garreg Mach,” Jeralt said, shaking his head in amusement while placing a plate of grilled fish in front of her. “Now eat this, it’s brain food.”_

_“You’re just saying that because it’s the only food you know how to cook.”_

_“You got me there.”_

_“I have one last question, though,” she said after taking a bite of her fish. “Do they have normal fish there or magical fish?”_

She put her earphones and turned some music on from her phone while waiting for the school bus to arrive at her stop. Jeralt had to take care of something going on within Eisner Co., hence why he couldn’t pick her up and had to postpone her celebratory last-day-of-school dinner at their favorite sushi place.

When the bus finally made it to her stop, she got off from the vehicle and started walking towards her house with a spring on her step.

She was more excited to meet the new students and to make friends. No one would possibly know anything about her there and she had been looking for a fresh start. Being the Queen Bee’s–Jessica–target for two years of middle school did not exactly help in gaining any friends.

_It doesn’t matter now. I’m having a fresh start._

She was about to enter her house when she noticed a small black round thing at the corner of her eye. She tried getting closer when she saw it moved and found a tiny black kitten, alone and sprawled out weakly near the bushes of her front yard.

“Uh oh, I’m going to grab some blanket.”

She ran inside, ditched her backpack in the couch and returned outside with a cream-colored blanket. She lifted the kitten gently and wrapped the blanket loosely around its tiny body. It purred weakly, nuzzling the blanket with its head.

“It’s okay, kitty. I got you.”

The cat must not be older than two months old, she thought. Byleth put the kitten in the sofa next to her backpack and dialed her father’s number.

“What’s up, kiddo? I’m going to be home in ten minutes tops _,”_ her father said on the other line.

“Great. Can you please take me to the pet clinic we always pass through when we go to the supermarket? I found a kitten in our front yard and its really weak.”

“Alright. Hold on there.”

The call ended and she paced anxiously while stealing glances every now and then towards the sleeping kitten on her living room’s sofa. She breathed in relief every time she found it still breathing, albeit weak. When she heard the sound of her father’s car, she gently lifted the sleeping kitten and walked outside of her house.

⬩ ♦ ⬩

“Your cat is alright for now, but you still need to keep him under close observation for a week,” the vet said after checking on the kitten. “Also do not forget to bring him back in a week for his first round of vaccination.”

Byleth nodded and took the vaccination card from the vet. She held the sleeping kitten while her dad handled the administration.

“I can keep him, right?” she asked her father on the car on their way back home. Her right index finger stroking the kitten’s head gently.

“Are you up for it?”

“Who do you think I am?” she chuckled. “I kept you alive for all these years, didn’t I?”

“Ha! You keep getting smarter and smarter, kid! I really need to watch my back,” Jeralt laughed at Byleth’s answer.

“Well, I learned from the best,” she remarked proudly.

The rest of the car ride was filled with another Eisner father-daughter banter session. When they got back home, Byleth immediately set the new pet bed she got from the pet store next to the pet clinic in the living room while his father ordered take-out food. The celebration sushi would have to wait for another time, but she didn’t mind.

She then put the kitten down gently and whispered gently, “Hang in there, little kitty. You can do it. You are no longer alone now.”

_No one should ever be alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll finally be meeting Felix next chapter! I'm so excited!


	3. Wyvern Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for putting this out for so long, I got stuck and wasn’t happy with anything I wrote for weeks. Anyways, I always picture Glenn to have the opposite personality from Felix. That’s why he and Sylvain are close. I live for Glenn and Sylvain’s friendship.
> 
> Also, their birthdays are:  
> Glenn – December 13/13th of Ethereal Moon 1162  
> Sylvain – June 5/5th of Garland Moon 1163  
> Felix – February 20/20th of Pegasus Moon 1164  
> Dimitri – December 20/20th of Ethereal Moon 1164

Byleth frowned at the itinerary sheet of her graduation ceremony. If things went according to schedule, she would be standing in the front of the stage in approximately two hours’ time, giving her valedictorian speech in front of everyone present in the decorated hall of Morfis Middle gymnasium. She sighed and tucked the sheet back in her jeans pocket before straightening her robe.

The graduating seniors started to walk into the middle of the hall when the speaker played the school’s anthem. After a short period of observation, she mentally praised the decorating committee for doing such a good job. Various hue of purple flower arrangements spread throughout the front side of the stage and the corners of the hall were delightful for the eyes. Or, she was just biased, having a fondness for flowers like her mother, as her father had told her before.

 _That’s a lot of people,_ she mused silently when attendees started pouring in and sat themselves in the raised seating platform located on the sides of the hall. Everyone she saw was a spot of red, blue, yellow or whatever colored clothes they were wearing, with an exception of one man.

Her father was sitting in the first-row seat on the right side of the hall, looking bored when the principal got up from his seat and walked to the podium to start the ceremony with his opening speech. It might be because he had heard way too much speech from the man, or his general dislike for tedious and frivolous ceremony, to which Byleth had agreed on.

“I would never understand why these Muggles feel the need to do a celebration for every single thing. It’s like saying, ‘Hey, congratulations on finishing one of the easiest parts of life!’” he had remarked one day when he saw Byleth staring intensely at her laptop screen, which showed an empty document titled ‘Valedictorian Speech’. She smirked at the memory.

Fifteen minutes had passed and the principal’s speech was finally over. Byleth had suspected that the man was using the same speech as he had every year—probably one he had written a decade ago and never bothered to change judging by how bored he sounded for someone ‘so grateful for the perfect graduation percentage’. If only she had the courtesy to just used last year’s valedictorian’s speech, she would not have to spend so much time agonizing and rewriting hers. It would spare her the time she spent entertaining the idea to just drop the microphone, hold out a very specific finger, and yelled, ‘See you never, bitches!’. That would probably earn her a spot in the ‘Valedictorian Speech Gone Wrong’ hall of fame on MorTube.

She never had any experience speaking in front of a crowd, much less a whole gymnasium full of it. Her palms were sweaty and she kept glancing back and forth on her notes, trying her best to remember what she had written.

When her name was called, she took one deep breath, got up from her seat, and walked towards the podium as chorus of applause resonated on the background. She glanced to where her father sat and found him smiling from ear to ear, mouthing ‘you can do this’ at her as he clapped. She replied with a smile and a nod.

 _Today is the day my life begins,_ she thought to herself as she cleared her throat and began her speech.

⬩ ♦ ⬩

As someone who grew up in the cold Faerghus weather, Felix couldn’t withstand too much heat, or any heat for that matter. It became even more unbearable when he had to tolerate the hot weather in the bustling streets of Wyvern Alley in Derdriu, which was even more crowded than usual thanks to the beginning of a new school year at Garreg Mach next week. That’s why he couldn’t understand why his brother, Glenn, had managed to keep his spirits up under the scorching sun. He had been talking nonstop to Dimitri about the lessons he’s going to have, the teachers to look out for, and other things revolving around the school—the thing he had hear way too much during the summer break Glenn spent back at their home.

“Why are you so cheerful? I feel like a boiled potato in this weather and crowd,” he remarked at his overly-excited brother. “Besides, you have been going to Garreg Mach for like, two years now.”

“As a normal student, dear brother. I’m starting this year as a Prefect. That means you should be careful not to piss me off or I’d just take out some points out of your house,” Glenn replied with a wink.

Felix rolled his eyes at his brother. “I’ll mostly likely end up in the Blue Lions house, which happens to be _your_ house too.”

“Then all the more reason to behave!”

Sylvain, who had been listening to the brothers’ quip was about to open his mouth when Glenn put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer.

“And it applies to you too, Syl. If I hear even a single complain from Ingrid regarding your ‘extra-curricular activities’…” he smiled menacingly at the red-haired boy. “You will not like me very much.”

“I’m sure he’s not going to be as… wild, Glenn,” Dimitri said, trying to help his friend out.

“Really, now? This boy-shaped vial of raging hormones?”

Sylvain made a choking noise which made Felix shook his head and sighed. He knew how much Glenn loved school and the Blue Lions house. Most high-ranking nobles from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus had been a blue lion, a house befitting the chivalrous and brave. He also understood why Glenn held those values close to his heart, though. Being the eldest of their bunch made him always wanted to protect everyone.

“Okay, okay. Be cool, Glennie,” Sylvain managed an answer. Having nothing to hold on to besides of Sylvain’s words, Glenn released his arm from him and tousled his red locks before guiding the group to their first shopping destination, Holst’s Robes for All Occasions.

Since Glenn was made Prefect, he would have to order extra robes with an intricate seam of the letter ‘P’ on top of the Blue Lions insignia. When Felix asked why didn’t he just sew the emblem into his old robes, Glenn shrugged him off with some nonsense about his old robes being a memento from his ‘ordinary’ student days.

Surely being a Prefect was not going to be that good? They have additional responsibilities after all. Personally, Felix was going to best him in both academic and technical aspects.

 _Although it might be more satisfying to beat Glenn’s record if I’m also made Prefect_ and _Head Boy_ , he mused to himself.

But that will have to wait until he actually attended the school himself. For now, he had to get measured for his uniforms, which consisted of several white shirts, gray sweater vests, black ties, and black robes.

When they exited the store though, the sound of a loud bang and the shattering of glass could be heard. Judging from the short length of the other patrons’ reaction, such occurrences probably happened quite often.

“FELIX!”

The only unusual thing was a voice he had never heard before calling out to his name, before something crashed into him, making him fell flat on his butt.

“Sorry!” the force—rather, a girl with odd clothes—yelled to no one in particular.

“Oi! What the hell was that for?” he yelled at the bolting girl in vain, since she was already quite far away.

“Hey, kid! Wait!”

Sylvain and Glenn quickly dragged him—still on his butt—away from his current spot when they spotted a burly man running towards the girl’s direction.

“Hey, isn’t that…?”

**_Earlier that day_ ** **…**

“Show me some more magic, Dad!”

It had only been a day since their arrival to Derdriu and Byleth couldn’t stop bothering Jeralt to show her his magic ‘tricks’, although he had insisted that it was not a trick, but more like an ability. Besides, he couldn’t show her more elaborate and ‘exciting’ spells without damaging this beautiful two-bedroom condo overlooking the ocean he had rented for the duration of their stay.

“Geez, I thought I told you I’d show you _some,_ not _all_ the spells I know,” he chided playfully, eyes not leaving his laptop screen and fingers typing furiously. Being the boss of his own company only meant more work, as evident with the seemingly endless ‘urgent matters’ which required his undivided attention. “We need to go get your _Aetherband_ first before you could even start practicing spells.”

“I know. But making things fly and shooting fires from the tips of your fingers are so cool. It reminds me of the elemental bender show that we watched months ago,” she replied enthusiastically and poured orange juice for the both of them.

Jeralt nodded approvingly at that. He remembered Byleth staying up until late, binge-watching the show with sparkles in her eyes. She did not realize it, but the flickering flame on the lavender aromatherapy candle she lit previously was growing and dissipating furiously, following the spike of her anticipation level. He actually sat and watch a couple of episodes with her out of curiosity, and had to admit that the show was amazing enough to make him stick to the very end.

“Yes, but don’t you start setting everything on fire just because you can, okay?”

He went to work for another fifteen minutes before turning his laptop off and grabbing his wallet and keys. “Now off we go. We have a day full of shopping to do. Don’t forget to bring the list.”

Byleth patted her sling bag as a reply and put on her black baseball cap. “Come on, Felix. Let’s hustle!”

At the sound of his name, the black cat she had adopted jump off the couch and followed them outside.

When he took Byleth to The Bubbling Brews—a small tavern in the back-alley streets of Derdriu—she gave him a look of confusion, although that look soon changed into amusement as the few people there greeted and welcomed him back. He exchanged pleasantries with them for a couple of minutes and led his daughter to the tavern’s back-room.

“Let’s see if I still remember how to do this.”

He cleared his throat and began tapping two fingers in a string of sequence on the dusty brick walls. When he was finished, the bricks moved to form an entrance to their ultimate destination. He smirked at the direction of his daughter, mouth slightly gaping and eyes wide from amazement.

Wyvern Alley at this time of the year was just like the way he remembered, bustling with people dressed in robes of various colors in the too-narrow streets lining with shops of everything you could possibly need. It made both of them stick out like a sore thumb; him in his white linen shirt, navy denim jeans, and dark brown ankle boots and Byleth in her white graphic t-shirt, navy jean shorts, and white sneakers.

 _A total muggle fashion,_ he mused to himself.

Their first stop was the _Aetherband_ shop, as per Byleth’s request. When he showed her his long-neglected _Aetherband_ he had fished from the back of his closet, she had not been able to stop poking and prodding at the metal cuff, fashioned with a marquise-cut smoky quartz embedded in the top side.

“This is what you call an _Aetherband._ It is used to harness your power and help you control it, thus making it personal. You can use mine, but it wouldn’t help you unleash your full potential,” he had explained to her when she failed to conjure even a small fire using the spell Jeralt had demonstrated.

So, they went to Macuil’s, makers of finest _Aetherband_ in the whole wizarding world.

When they entered the store, the shopkeeper greeted Jeralt with a smile on his face. “Ah, if it isn’t little Jeralt. Here to take this little one to get her first _Aetherband,_ I presume?”

“I don’t think I fit the ‘little’ nickname anymore, Mr. Sinclair,” Jeralt chuckled lightly at the older man. He remembered the day he got his first _Aetherband_ —he had exploded the shop’s glass chandelier rather spectacularly while Mr. Sinclair just shrugged it off and got him another one to try. “And yes, this is my daughter. She’s starting school this year.”

While he had successfully grew a full beard and bulk-up generously over the past fifteen years, Mr. Sinclair looked generally the same like he had always known—tall, slender, light brown eyes underneath the half-moon spectacles; with an exception of more white hair on his head rather than brown.

“My name is Byleth Rose Eisner. I am pleased to meet you,” she introduced herself to the older man with a bow.

“Such a polite young lady,” Mr. Sinclair nodded with approval. He then walked to the back of the store, to the tall shelves where he stored his merchandise and grabbed several for Byleth to try on.

She opened the first box, a plain silver cuff with diamond-shaped markings. It shifted its size to fit her wrist when she tried to put it on and Jeralt didn’t miss the way her lips curved slightly.

_Still amused by the whole magic concept, I see._

She held out her cuffed wrist in front of her and stare, not sure what to do.

“Well, give it a wave,” Mr. Sinclair instructed her while Jeralt scratched Felix’s chin, the cat clearly bored at whatever his clueless owner was doing. So Byleth did, but it only made Mr. Sinclair’s carefully placed boxes of _Aetherband_ flew from their shelves. Shocked, she took the cuffs off and placed them gently on their box.

Felix lifted his head and watched Byleth with a mix of curiosity and amusement while Jeralt held back a laughter. The look on his usually-calm daughter’s face was hilarious—eyes getting bigger making them look like they’re going to pop out of her head anytime soon.

“Apparently not.”

He took the box away and opened the next one for her to try. It was not as wide as the previous one, but definitely flashier with gold metal and strings of tiny brilliant-cut garnets circling the middle part of the cuff.

Byleth inhaled and put them on her wrists, trying not to notice the scattered merchandises on the floor. There was a harsh glow and faint embers spewing out of the cuff to their surprise.

“Oh ho? This could be it,” Mr. Sinclair nodded approvingly and Byleth waved her right hand towards the shop’s window, probably scared of damaging the other merchandises.

Unfortunately for her, the innocent wave of her right hand turned into an explosion, shattering the window, the glass chandelier, and busted the door off its hinges.

Both Jeralt and Mr. Sinclair instinctively cover their eyes with their forearm, probably used to things exploding near them—one being a retired prankster and one from witnessing too much young wizards and witches with similar incompatible _Aetherband_ reaction.

“FELIX!”

Jeralt uncover his eyes at the sound of his daughter screaming towards the direction of the now-glassless window. Apparently, the cat had escaped the vicinity at the sound of the explosion. She ran out from the shop without saying a word to both men to chase after the poor furball.

_Oh no, this is bad._

“I’m going after her, Mr. Sinclair! Be back soon!” he yelled as he rushed outside, chasing Byleth before she turned Wyvern Alley into a wreck with the offending cuffs still encircled in her wrists.

“What is it with you Eisners and your need to destroy my chandelier?”

The shopkeeper chuckled before conjuring a spell to repair everything that got destroyed.

“ _Immobulus!_ ”

Jeralt stretch out his right arm and conjure up a freezing charm, aimed directly at his daughter’s cat. The frantic little furball was now frozen mid-air.

Byleth caught her breath before taking the levitated cat and stroked his head with her right index finger, something that she liked to do to soothe him. “There, there. I’m really sorry for scaring you. It’s alright now.”

“You know, kid. It’s something worth remembering that there are going to be spells for _almost_ everything.”

“Jeralt?”

Both Byleth and Jeralt turned their heads at the direction of the voice. It was a raven-haired man he knew all too well. Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, the man he considered his own brother.

“It is you, Jeralt! What a surprise!” Rodrigue laughed with amusement and gave Jeralt a crushing shoulder hug. Well, as crushing as it can be from a man who was almost half his size. “You bulk up a lot, huh! The Muggle world not treating you good?”

“When you can’t protect yourselves with spells, you learn how to fight traditionally,” Jeralt said nonchalantly. The normally stern face he used in public slowly changing into a relaxed one—the look he only shared with those he considered his family. “Kid, this is-”

“Hey, you!”

A really angry-looking mini Rodrigue practically stomped his way towards his daughter. “Who are you and why do you know me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Weren’t you the one who screamed my name and ran through me earlier?!”

“Why would-”

“Ah, you must be Byleth,” Rodrigue cut her off. “It is a pleasure to see you all grown up. My name is Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius, your father’s oldest friend.”

Jeralt gave her a nod of agreement when she turned to him.

“This is my eldest son, Glenn,” he pointed at the older even more look-alike version of him.

 _He was cute when he was a baby,_ Jeralt mused to himself.

“And this one is my youngest, _Felix._ ”

“Ah, I see what’s happening here.”

A boy with red hair stepped in the middle of Felix and Byleth. “You’re _both_ named Felix.”

He pointed back and forth at the cat on Byleth’s arms and Rodrigue’s youngest son. The former only lifted her eyebrows slightly while the latter’s scowl deepened. Laughter erupted within the group, with an exception of the two people in question.

“This wouldn’t happen if you send me an owl once in a while, you know,” Rodrigue told him after he finished laughing.

“Don’t talk as if you didn’t find this whole situation amusing.”

“True that.”

He glanced at the still-laughing kids, and remembered that he still had to return Byleth’s incompatible _Aetherband_ and actually get her one.

“Let’s go, Kiddo. We need to return that cuff and get you a compatible one.”

Rodrigue gestured to his party to follow him and Byleth.

“We’re catching up no matter what, Jeralt.”

“Of all the people that we could run into, why him?”

He sighed, although everyone could hear that his tone held no malice at all.

⬩ ♦ ⬩

Byleth had expected the shopping trip to be fun. Instead, it was half-weird at best. The frowny guy—Felix—had been staring daggers at her and she didn’t need to have an eye at the back of her head to know. She truly didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation.

 _Should I apologize?_ But she did nothing wrong.

 _Should I ignore him?_ But it’s hard not to notice a malicious presence walking not that far away from her.

She decided to ignore him and just follow her father quietly, who was walking in front of her happily chatting with his old friend.

The red-haired guy who introduced himself as Sylvain walked closer to her and stroke her cat with his right thumb. “You’ll have to excuse him, Byleth. How should you know that your father’s closest friend has a son whose name is the same as your cat’s?”

 _Exactly._ “I named him after a beloved childhood cartoon I used to watch when I was younger,” she confessed.

“Cartoon?” Sylvain asked, confused.

_Ah yes, dad did tell me there are no electronics or internet in the wizarding world._

“It was something muggles create as a form of entertainment,” Byleth let the no-longer stunned cat down and grab her phone from her bag. “Like this.”

After she gave him a brief explanation about phones and its main usage as a communication device in the Muggle world, she showed him an episode of Avatar from her Netflix account. “This is one example of a cartoon.”

“And they make this from scratch?” Sylvain asked eagerly.

“Basically yes, with the help of other electronic devices.”

“Amazing!”

She explained a few things about muggles technology to Sylvain, who listened to her with such fervor and it helped her to ignore the killing intent from the frowny guy, albeit for a while when her father and Rodrigue stopped at a modest café which leaked fragrant—yet not so strong—flowery aromas.

“This takes me back,” Jeralt pondered at the moving teacups sign.

_Bella Terra._

“Same. I haven’t been here since forever. Life isn’t the same with you out and about in the Muggle world and Lambert as a king.” Rodrigue told him while a waiter showed them to their table.

“Right. I need to give him a visit before I leave.”

At first, Byleth had trouble believing that her father, a 6’1” burly man with a full-beard, would frequent a rather feminine-looking café like this. She quickly shot that thought down and reminded herself to keep it in mind that everything was not as they seemed.

_Dad has a lot to explain._

The exterior of the café was not a testimony for the large interior it contained. In fact, it didn’t do it any justice. The stone flooring and the vines trailing the stone wall made her feel like she was dining in a castle forgotten by time in the middle of a forest instead of a café in a cramped alley. The centerpiece of the establishment, a three-story high waterfall seemed to sparkle under the rays of sunlight pouring in from the high ceiling.

“It’s bewitched, you know,” Sylvain explained to her when he found her gaping in amazement. “The sunlight would always be there even in the evenings.”

“This is so amazing,” she remarked.

“I didn’t know they serve steaks now,” Jeralt commented after looking at the menu book. “Go back to page one again, I think I’ll just have fish.”

At his command, the menu book flipped to the front page.

“Even the menus?” She shot Sylvain a questioning look.

“Even the menus.”

_Makes sense, if there were moving measurement tapes and quills, why not menus?_

Byleth took a seat next to Jeralt and Sylvain took the spot next to her, apparently still keen on continuing their discussion on the wondrous technologies within the muggle world.

“Uh, do you remember me?”

The blonde boy with ice blue eyes who had been quiet the whole time took the seat next to Sylvain and was looking at her with expectant eyes.

“Hm?”

“You know her, Your Highness?” Sylvain asked.

_Your Highness?_

Byleth gave her a look and raked her memories. _Golden locks and ice blue eyes, a prince charming by any standard._

_Snows in the middle of a desert…_

It reminded her to the one and only boy she had called her friend many years ago.

“Could you be Dimitri?”

“You remembered,” he smiled rather sheepishly.

“You two knew each other,” Sylvain came into a conclusion. “What are the odds?”

“We met years ago in Sreng,” Dimitri explained. “I’ve been wondering when I could meet you again.”

“Are you a first year too?”

“Yes, I am. I do hope that we end up in the same house.”

She smiled and nodded at Dimitri in agreement. Her time in the wizarding world was going to be amazing, she thought. But that thought was quickly diminished when the frowny guy shot her a look across the table.

“You need to change the name of your cat, _stat,_ ” he demanded.

“No.”

“What did you say?!”

“Little brother,” Rodrigue’s eldest son—Glenn, she recalled—stopped him from anything he was about to do. “It’s not her fault that her cat’s name is the same as yours, you didn’t even know each other until recently.”

_Thank goodness he’s reasonable._

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” he challenged his brother, arms crossed and frown deepened.

“It was nobody’s fault, Felix,” Dimitri chimed in.

In the worst timing ever, the cat meowed and hopped into Dimitri’s thigh, earning (human) Felix his guilty look. Sylvain and Glenn could barely contain his laughter while Byleth swore that (human) Felix’s ears were turning red, either from embarrassment or anger, she couldn’t tell. Even the two adults could be heard snickering, albeit low.

“Look, it’s not like the cat is going to tail her every second of the day. Pets are allowed only on certain classes, which means they’ll ended up at their respective compound in the castle most of the times.” Glenn explained in full prefect mode.

Now that was something to frowned about. She and (cat) Felix were always together, and she was worried that he would be lonely in the pet compound.

Sensing her worry, Sylvain assured her. “Don’t worry, I have a cat too. They could be friends.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

_And I hope for us to be friends, too._

Time passed way too quickly for Byleth’s liking. She enjoyed talking to Glenn, Sylvain, and Dimitri, especially Glenn since he had been generous on regaling her with the stories of his first year at Garreg Mach. Heck, she even accustomed herself to (human) Felix’s scowling in the three hours of hanging out in Bella Terra.

“Don’t worry. He’s a really nice guy deep down. I bet you’ll even _like_ him at the end of the day.” Sylvain had assured her.

“The day is ending and I still want you to change your cat’s name.”

“My answer is the same. No.”

“This is just sad, Fe. Let it go,” Sylvain came to her rescue, again.

“I’ll make her,” Felix shot Sylvain a warning look and turned to look at Byleth. “If I beat your grade at the end of the year, you have to change your cat’s name or else.”

“I have no reason to participate in this bet.”

“What, you chicken?”

She always thought she was a calm and rational person. No one had managed to irked her _this_ much, not even Jessica Floyd.

But Felix, he had sparked something within her. It was as if her long-dormant sense of competition was lit on fire from his ridiculous challenge. Maybe she was awkward and bad at making friends, but she definitely had an excellent aptitude on learning.

_Oh, it’s on._

“And if I win?” she challenged him, her mouth forming an almost-visible smirk and arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Ooooh,” Glenn and Sylvain didn’t even try to hide their excitement at this newly established rivalry while Dimitri fidgeted nervously between the two of them.

“She took after you, huh,” Rodrigue said to Jeralt, amused at the sight of his son getting pumped up by someone other than his older brother.

“In the competitive aspect? Yes, she definitely did.”

“I will be your errand boy for a year.”

“Fe…?” The excitement in Sylvain’s eyes turn into a panicked one. “Are you sure?”

“Nothing is more humiliating than having the same name as a cat,” he replied, eyes not leaving Byleth’s.

_Over-confidence. I like that in a stranger._

She nodded in approval. “You have yourself a deal.”

“Then let’s seal it with an Unbreakable Vow,” Rodrigue said as he stepped in the middle of (human) Felix and Byleth.

“Father…?” It was Glenn’s turn to shot his father a panicked look.

“Relax, Glenn. It’s not going to kill any of them, not in the literal sense anyway. I used to do bets like this with Jeralt back in the days,” Rodrigue said nonchalantly while Jeralt nodded in agreement. “Hold out your _Aetherband_ wrist upside down, please.”

Both Byleth and Felix complied and Rodrigue dragged two fingers starting from Felix’s wrist to his open palm, through Byleth’s open palm and ended at her wrist.

“Felix Hugo Fraldarius will hereby swear to be Byleth Rose Eisner’s errand boy for one-year time should he fail on beating her academic-wise at the end of their first school year. Should he succeed, Byleth Rose Eisner shall change the name of her feline companion into anything but Felix Hugo Fraldarius’s name, be it given, middle, or last. Should they fail to meet any of this expectation, a feline tail and ears shall grow and would be gone in one-year time.”

“Huh?”

“What?!”

Both Byleth and Felix jerked their heads at Rodrigue, who was grinning widely. “Remember when I told you it’s not going to _literally_ kill you? What I meant was you can die, probably out of embarrassment.”

“I never knew you were such a savage, Uncle Rodrigue.” Dimitri gulped.

“Relax, little prince. We gave each other crocodile tails back in the days. Imagine having to walk around with big, leathery green tails growing out of your bottom.” Jeralt assured Dimitri. “Show him what you’re made of, kiddo.”

“I will, Dad. Although this vow is really savage compared to our pinky swears.”

“Tch. I’m not gonna lose to you anyway,” Felix scoffed and turned his back to the rest of the group. “I’m tired, let’s go back.”

“I knew I just met you, and this is crazy. But I really like you,” Sylvain gave her an encouraging pat on her back. “I’d _kill_ to see Fe with cat ears and tails, honestly.”

“Sylvain, you seem to be forgetting _our_ promise,” Glenn said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I wasn’t hitting on her! I swear!”

“I’d like to see you try, Gautier,” Jeralt cracked his knuckles.

“I’m sorry, sir! Now if you’ll excuse me, I think Felix is calling for me!”

And with that, the redhead fled the scene.

“Now that wasn’t a Victor-like behavior at all. He was such a stick in the mud,” he said to a highly-amused Rodrigue.

“I know, and it’s both refreshing and concerning. I have heard way too many complains from Jonas’s daughter about the boy. He’s only sixteen and already broke more hearts than you have fingers.”

Jeralt sighed at Rodrigue’s remark. “Remember what I taught you about _krav maga,_ kid?”

“Yes?”

“Do not hesitate to use it on him.”

“Can’t I just set him on fire?”

“Right, I’ll teach you the harmless fire spell when we get back.”

“Great, I look forward to it.”

Rodrigue gave the father-daughter combination a bewildered look, although the amusement was still apparent. “Is this the kind of conversation you two normally have?”

“One among many others.”

In the background, Glenn and Dimitri looked at each other, half-scared and half-entertained.

“I envy you, Your Highness. Sounds like it’s going to be a lively year.”

“I think it would be best for me not to jinx anything.”

Who would have thought that rivalry based on pettiness could be this intriguing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. I gave Byleth a middle name and assign random names to Margrave Gautier and Count Galatea, Victor Gautier and Jonas Galatea respectively. Also please forgive my pathetic attempt on writing petty adolescent Felix XD
> 
> #teamraginghormones


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